Of Trips and Tears
by Deandra
Summary: Eomer’s injury frightens Elfwine. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 16 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 16 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots, of which there will definitely be three, but MIGHT be more if I come up with more ideas.**_

Author's Notes at bottom.

**_NO! You did NOT miss Part 15. I started it but haven't finished it yet and didn't want to change the names, so you get 16 first while waiting for me to finish writing 15. (Actually, I forgot about it and will have to give it more thought and see if I can figure out what to do with it.)_**

**Of Trips and Tears**

**(Oct, 6 IV)**

Eomer set his energetic five-year-old son, Elfwine, down on the terrace as Gamling approached him. The boy had been squirming in his arms and was grateful to at last have his feet on the ground. While the two men talked, Elfwine explored the general vicinity for anything that might prove interesting. He and his father had been headed for the stables when the Doorward appeared, and Elfwine sought to amuse himself since often Gamling's presence meant his father was lost to him for some time.

As they finished their discussion, Eomer turned and began to take the first step down, calling to his son, "Elfwine? Where are you?" He did not notice that the boy was right where he was beginning to place his foot and, before anyone recognized the danger, Eomer had stumbled on the boy, lost his balance and plunged down the steps, muttering some Rohirric curses as he landed. He tried rising, but when he moved his left leg, a wave of pain shot through him and he lay back with a loud moan and then was silent as he fought for control.

The door guards and Gamling had rushed to his side, and Elfwine ran to cower around the corner of the Golden Hall, watching everything with terrified eyes. The men slowly lifted Eomer and began carrying him inside as Gamling sent a young page to bring the Healer at once.

Elfwine trailed behind them unnoticed as they entered through the huge front doors. When they reached the king's bedchamber and laid him out on the bed, Elfwine bolted unseen into the nursery and curled in a ball under his bed, whimpering and trying not to cry so loud that they would hear and find him.

Lady Lothiriel was duly summoned to her husband's bedside and waited while the Healer examined him, finding the only serious injury to be the broken leg. The bruises were painful and would be unsightly, but were not life-threatening.

When at last the Healer finished and departed, Lothiriel dismissed the servants and Gamling, who was still standing by anxiously eyeing the king. Turning back to her husband, she gave a sigh and put her hands on her hips. "What happened? How did you manage to fall down the stairs?"

Eomer shook his head with embarrassment, "I am not sure. I went to take a step as I called for Elfwine, and the next thing I knew I was at the bottom of the stairs and in great pain."

"Elfwine? He was with you?"

Eomer nodded and Lothiriel asked, "Then where is he?"

Concern sprang to Eomer's eyes, "I do not know. I have not seen him since I set him down." He began to struggle to rise, but Lothiriel pushed him back.

"Stay put, my love. I will find him."

When neither Gamling nor the guards knew of Elfwine's whereabouts, Lothiriel quickly initiated a search. They all remembered seeing him outside with Eomer, but in the confusion of the accident, none had thought to pay attention to the boy. Gamling soon had several men searching the grounds while Lothiriel had servants doing the same inside Meduseld.

The longer the search went on, the more worried Lothiriel became. She had returned to her husband's side, but her pacing became ever more frantic, despite his effort at consoling her with assurances that Elfwine would soon turn up.

It took more than a quarter of an hour before a servant caught a glimpse of Elfwine's foot and located him under the bed, but he had screamed and kicked when she tried to pull him out. Lothiriel was brought to him and knelt down.

"Elfwine, dearest, why are you hiding under here? Come to Mama."

He shook his head and with trembling voice told her, "I killed Papa!"

Lothiriel wasn't sure at first what he was talking about, but then recalled Eomer's words about taking a step and falling. "Did Papa trip on you?"

The boy nodded and continued to weep uncontrollably. Lothiriel's heart wrenched within her; her poor, scared baby! She lowered herself onto her stomach and slid part way under the bed. "Beloved, you did not kill Papa. He is only hurt. Do come out now – for me."

Elfwine sniffed a few times, but Mama had never lied to him, and he did want her to hold him. So after a few moments, he crawled toward her and followed her out. Sitting on the floor, she pulled him into her lap and hugged him close, rocking and kissing him until she felt him stop trembling and his sniffles subsided.

She looked down at his little tear-stained face and pushed back the tousled blond hair. Raising his chin with her hand, she told him, "It was just an accident. You are very small and Papa did not see you there, but it is not your fault he fell."

The boy was still wracked by an occasional sniffle as he told her, "But Papa was hurt. He will be angry with me." He paused, and before she could respond, he looked up with eyes beginning to tear up again, "I did not mean to hurt him! I do not want Papa to be angry!" He buried his face against her chest once more and resumed his sobbing.

Again, she held and rocked him soothingly until he calmed down a bit. Catching his face to look into his eyes, she whispered, "Papa knows you did not mean to hurt him, and he will not be angry with you. I promise. Come, I will take you to see him and he will tell you so."

Elfwine threw his arms around her neck, not entirely convinced of what she said, but allowed her to rise and move toward the other room. At the doorway, upon catching sight of his father, Elfwine tightened his hold and buried his face in her neck rather than look at Eomer.

Eomer was gazing questioningly at them, not having been able to quite make out the quiet conversation in the other room.

Lothiriel stepped toward her husband. Softly she told him, "It would seem that it was your son you tripped over outside, beloved, and he is most fearful that you will be angry with him. He thought he had killed you."

Comprehension dawned in Eomer's eyes and then they clouded with concern. "Give him to me," he said reaching out his arms, but Elfwine clenched Lothiriel even tighter and would not look at his father.

"Elfwine, come to Papa." Eomer said it rather sternly, and Elfwine automatically responded in spite of himself. He turned to look and allowed Lothiriel to hand him over.

Once he was in Eomer's arms, he let out a wail, "I am sorry, Papa! I did not mean to hurt you." And he buried his face against Eomer's chest.

Eomer just held him for awhile, rubbing his back soothingly until he calmed. When the little boy finally relaxed somewhat, he smiled down at him, "Elfwine, look at me." As Elfwine slowly raised his face, he let his hand stroke the boy's cheek. "Papa is not angry with you. It was an accident. Please do not cry anymore. I love you." He pulled his son into a tight hug and after just a brief moment, the tiny arms were hugging him back with all their might.

"I love you, too, Papa. And I promise never to trip you again!"

Eomer let out a relieved laugh at the comment, "Excellent! And I promise never to trip over you again!"

Lothiriel let out a contented sigh as she listened to her two men, and watched Elfwine making plans to spend each day playing with his father so that he wouldn't get bored lying in bed. She knew by the look on Eomer's face he wasn't entirely sure Elfwine's presence was going to be very relaxing, but she also knew he wouldn't turn the boy away no matter what. She slipped out of the room, leaving the two of them, their blond heads resting against one another, plotting out their activities to come.

THE END

_A/N: Went away for a few days and got a few more ideas for stories, but they still have to be developed into something. Also, super secret trivia for those who read Author's Notes, I will be changing Elfwine's age (if you care) in Discovery since I decided, after recent observation, that 14 months was too old for that behavior. He will now be 11 months old._

_Also, if you care, no, I didn't want to "hurt" Eomer in the above story, but I figured if he was sick, they probably wouldn't want Elfwine near him for fear he'd catch something, so Eomer had to get hurt for them to be able to interact as above. Sorry Eomer! (If he wants to drop by my house, I promise to kiss him and make it better...but, I digress!)_

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**_End note:  It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content._**


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